Roller and like bearing



'N. H. CROUSE ROLLER AND LIKE BEARING Filed June 16. 1

/ INVENTOR.

NATHAN H. CROuss ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 13, 1927.

NATHAN CROUSE, OIF' AKRON,

OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF '1O OSCAR H IAYES, OI

AKRON, OHIO.

ROLLER AND LIKE BEARING.

Application filed J'une 16;1926. Serial No. 116,347.

This invention relates to roller bearings.

he general purpose of the invention'is to provide a roller bearing suitable for use in shafts in damp or exposed positions or under water, and particularly for shi propeller shafts, centrifugal pumps, an mining machinery.

In this class of machinery it is very diflicult to secure or maintain lubrication with.

any oil or grease. Expensive non-corrodible bearings have been employed and the bearings are often impaired or destroyed by friction of grit, sediment and the like carried by the water.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a grooved sleeve bearing of rubber and means for supplying water thereto. The present invention contemplates securing the advantages of this type of bearing, as to lubrication and resistance to grit, and further the advantages of the roller hearing, as to reduced friction together with greater ease in supplying the lubricant to the bearmg.

The invention in its preferred form is dirooted to roller bearings of tough, resilient, waterproof material, such as vulcanized rubber which can readil be lubricated with water, are non-corrodible and are resistant to friction of grit thereon, whereby an inexpensive but effective bearing. is provided for'the uses above set forth, and one which, due to the flexible resilient nature of the rubber will equalize the pressure over the entire bearing.

The foregoing and other objects are obtained by the bearing construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings and de- (1 scribed below. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific form thereof disclosed herein.

f the accompanying drawin s,

Figure 1 is a lon itudinal section through a shaft bearing em odying the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Figure 1; and

Fi ure 3 is a view of a construction draw ing i lustrating the eneral relationship be tween the diameter 0% the shaft, the diameter of the race and the normal diameter of the rollers.

I a shaft whlch Referring to the drawings; 10 illustrates may be, for example, the propeller shaft for a ship. .The numeral 11 indicates a race of any suitable construction, and 12, 12 indicate cage rings, connected by cage rods 13, 1,3 and in which rings are journaled vulcanized rubber rollers 14, 14, each ofwhich include a central metallic shaft onto which the body portion of rubber has been permanently vulcanized according to known methods.

In order to support the load properl in ap i nstallation, it is desirable that the r0 ers be under compression between the shaft and the raceso that pressure will be equalized, i. e. the shaft will be held true to its center and allowable working pressure of the bear- .ing with additional pressure for safety will be provided.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the normal diameter of the rollers is preferably larger than one half the difference between the diameter D of the shaft and-the inner diameter D of the race by an amount depending upon the character of the rubber and the load on the bearings in any particular installation. For certain installations, softer and. less resilient rubber ma be employed, while for others, tougher and more resilient rubber may be required, depending upon the requirements of the particular installation. These conditions compounding of the rubber by skilled arti- SEIIIS.

The roller cage rings 12 are preferabl of steel and,'f0r certain classes of work w ere a large amount of grit is' present in the water, are preferably coated with rubber as by electrodeposition. The ca e rin 12 may be of the various forms s own in the rawings, or in other suitable forms, being so designed as not to allow sand or grlt to lodge permanently thereon.

In use, it is to be understood, free access of water to and around the rollers 14 is permitted. This is easily accomplished in'the case of ship propeller shafts since water from the river, lake or sea ma be permitted to pass about the bearing. 11 the case of other machinery, suitable means may be provided to supply water to the bearing. It will be observed that, due to the roller hearing construction, the water servingas lubr1- cant can pass freely over all bearing surfaces.

The rolling friction on the'rubber is such that it is subjected to a heavy kneading ackeep the rubber alive"'i. e.

tion tending to v for a long period of time,

highly resilient also preventing deteriowater serving as a protecting and cooling medium as well as serving as Modifications of the invention may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

. 1. A bearing constructed to be freely lubricatedhvith water and comp risinga race,

a cage, and ,rollers -jou'rnaled in the cage, each of sald rollers comprlsmg a core shaft of metal and a body portion of tough, resilia lubricant. i

ent rubber vulcanizd thereto, all of said rollers being mounted under compression.

2. A bearingconstructed to be 'freely lubricated with water and comprising a race, -and/elements rolling thereon, said elements being of tough, resilient rubber and all of said elements being mounted under compression.

NATHAN H. (mouse.

3. A hearing constructed to be freely lubricated with water 

